At a moment when global trade leaders are asking how small businesses can turn digital attention into measurable growth, Ace Labs is taking a South African answer to the world stage. The Cape Town-based creator intelligence lab and TikTok Global Partner, co-founded by Nadia Jaftha and Reece Meyer, was recently invited to an exclusive TikTok Partner Summit in New York, positioning the business not simply as a local success story but as an emerging digital export for South Africa’s creator economy.
The invitation was made possible with the support of long-term client and strategic partner Capitec, whose sustained investment in creator-led innovation has helped shape both Ace Labs’ growth journey and the evolution of its long-term creator and influencer strategy. Over the past 18 months, the partnership has extended far beyond campaign delivery into shared innovation and strategic development.
The recognition from both Capitec and TikTok comes at a pivotal moment for the global creator economy. Earlier this year, TikTok and the International Chamber of Commerce launched Digital Commerce Labs, an initiative designed to help entrepreneurs and small businesses unlock revenue through digital commerce training, mentorship and practical resources. While much of the world is only beginning to formalise creator-led commerce as an economic driver, Ace Labs enters its fourth year of helping South African brands convert cultural relevance, creator fluency and platform-native storytelling into measurable commercial outcomes.
Cape Town to New York, the Ace Labs Conversion Model Goes Global
Against this backdrop, Ace Labs’ participation in the TikTok Global Partner Summit marks more than a milestone for the agency itself. It reflects the growing maturity of South Africa’s creator economy and the increasing export value of locally developed creative IP. For founders Nadia Jaftha and Reece Meyer, it is recognition that South African creator-led innovation can compete confidently on the global stage.
For Meyer, the moment represents years of disciplined execution. “This is a full-circle moment for Ace Labs,” says Reece Meyer, Co-Founder of Ace Labs. “We built this agency brick by brick from Cape Town with the belief that South African thinking could compete anywhere in the world. Being invited into a room with TikTok and global industry leaders is not just validation for us, but validation for the conversion model we have built, one that proves that creativity, culture, and data can move together.”
This model is the antidote to the current fragmentation of the media landscape. While South African public-sector discourse remains preoccupied with how social platforms are eroding traditional revenue streams, Ace Labs operates at the forefront of that disruption. Rather than viewing the shift as a threat, the agency has engineered a proprietary ‘Connectioneering’ framework, systematising cultural resonance and creator-led fluency into a high-performance engine for business growth.
Architecting a Sustainable Future
While Ace Labs has executed high-performance strategies for leading brands, including Capitec, PayJustNow and HUAWEI, the partnerships go beyond the traditional agency-client relationship ecosystem.
“Partners and brands (like Capitec) have believed in our vision from very early on,” says Meyer. “They haven’t just been clients; they’ve been genuine innovation partners, backing new thinking and giving us the opportunity to push the boundaries of what creator-led marketing can look like in South Africa.”
“When we founded Ace Labs, it was through the fact that we felt, lived, and survived this disconnect,” explains Nadia Jaftha, Co-Founder. “Brands were hungry for cultural relevance in our nuanced country, but struggled to navigate creator culture with authenticity. Not too dissimilar, we watched incredible talent possess the influence but lack the strategic infrastructure to convert that creativity into a legacy and revenue. What we’ve built is an ecosystem, a creative hub where South African talent can access global opportunity without sacrificing their home-grown voice.”
This commitment to institutionalising the industry is evident in initiatives such as the Creator Club, which is part of a broader mandate to make the digital economy legible, sustainable, and respected.
“For too long, there was a narrative that you had to ‘sanitize’ your identity or mimic international archetypes to succeed on a global stage,” Jaftha adds. “But the global market responds to authenticity. We are ensuring the next generation doesn’t have to question the validity of this career path; they’ll be too busy leading it.”
Enter, the Perfect Duo
Behind Ace Labs’ rise is the partnership between Jaftha and Meyer, who have moved from collaborators to co-founders and fiancés while building one of South Africa’s most closely watched digital growth businesses. Their internal team describes the agency as fast-moving, grounded, and deeply collaborative, with Jaftha’s creative instinct and cultural fluency complementing Meyer’s data-driven strategy and scaling mindset.
According to Kayla, a brand strategist at Ace Labs, “Reece and Nadia have built a team culture that is dynamic, fast-moving, and locked in. They make any large goal seem possible, remain calm, determine the steps, and assign resources accordingly.” Another team member, Resh, says the New York invitational created “a real sense of, ‘We’re really being seen now,’” adding that the recognition proves work created in Cape Town can stand alongside global industry leaders while remaining authentically South African.
The agency’s internal culture is the foundational DNA of its commercial output. Ace Labs’ campaigns transcend ‘influence’ for its own sake, focusing instead on the evolution of the creator-entrepreneur: a sophisticated class of digital business builder who masters the intersection of audience, commerce, and performance. As South Africa’s digital creative economy (currently valued at R6.9 billion) commands increasing global attention, Ace Labs is positioned as both its primary participant and its strategic architect.
In Closing
New York is not a destination for Ace Labs; it’s a global trade mission statement. As the world seeks a new digital commerce playbook, TikTok has looked to Cape Town for the answer. Ace Labs is no longer just navigating the creator economy; they’re exporting the blueprint for its future, proving that South African creative IP is a formidable global commodity.